*Remains frozen in place, blood pounding in his ears from panic, eyes wide with horror*

Fighting around him. A monstrous drakedog before him, Hiltorel who'd kill him on first notice.
Loud noises around him, drowned by the blood pounding in Frank's ears. Brom, while just as lunatic as the rest of this band, was the one with the plans until now. Plans they could actually use right now.
If Frank was brave (or mad, like the rest), he might jump ahead, fighting everything in his way.
If he kept a cool head, he might hack the surroundings to their advantage.
If, if, if...
He had killed this mission, but he could try to convince himself that the pilots had somehow survived. He had also killed people before his prosecution, though never planned, and never in person.
Now though? That was completely out of his depth, has been for most of the time now, actually.
Now, they would get killed off, one after the other. And even if Frank was to surrender...it was too late already, no?
Right now, Frank was only looking for a way to get out alive...

Last edited by F4wk35 on Sat Jul 28, 2018 10:03 am, edited 1 time in total.

"Oh, right! You mentioned a prisoner! I'm sorry, I'm such an airhead today! Maybe it's because I missed breakfast?" Cho laughs. "Okay, give me just a minute. Let me see if I can work something out. - Reyha? Hey, Reyha?" There's silence for a couple dozen seconds, and then you hear her again. "Okay, Ishmael? If you can hear me: you can set the prisoner down somewhere in the valley with the Nemesis, as long as the prisoner is properly bound. I talked to Reyha and she's going to send Kendall out to pick it up. Will that be okay?"

(( /begin[speaking to Cho] ))

"Cho, Esteemed Commander, that most definitely will NOT be OK. For indeed, 'Trustworthiness is important for all, and those who deceive are bound t' be found out eventually, and dealt with justly'.

"Hath thee no faith in us performing our duties? Hath we given thee, or SCAMPS, any reason at all to doubt us and deal with us so harshly? Why is SCAMPS so bound of abandoning those who gave all their strength, and all their will, to fighting the enemy, and nearly died in the process? This is not a just way to treat a fellow pirate!"

"Now, let us not be unreasonable. I shall drop the prisoner off on the Nemesis, or anywhere nearby, and then re-join my comrades in the battle. But Caleb is currently flying a civilian ship. He has no weapons, and is only good for target practice. He is heavily injured, and requires rest and medical help. He'll be a liability if sent into combat - both ship-to-ship and ground-based. The mission is over for him, he did his part, and he did it WELL."

"Please ask SCAMPS to let him land."

(( /end[speaking to Cho] ))

Private channel to Caleb: "Caleb, Esteemed Soldier. Your job here is done, regardless of what this SCAMPS says. If they don't allow you to land, you stay close to the Nemesis. The Lord accepts, and endorses a heroic sacrifice for the sake of your crew, but I don't think sacrificing yourself for no good reason will humour him enough. Stay put, observe the battlefield, look for hidden threats, serve as a comm relay if you can. Do NOT follow us into battle, and may the Lord guide us all."

Fly over the ridge and VERY GENTLY land somewhere in the valley with the Nemesis, where the CASKET with the prisoner can be recovered quickly and efficiently.
Use PSI to make the landing smoother, if necessary.
Release the CASKET with the prisoner from my tentacle.
Disengage magnetic clamps.
Fly towards the stellaplex plant, keeping low profile and looking out for danger.
While flying, look for a nice, sheep-sized boulder.
Pick it up with my tentacle,
and carry it with me.

Last edited by outlander on Wed Aug 01, 2018 1:17 pm, edited 4 times in total.

Pasta above, SCAMPS can go short himself out! What does he expect me to do, amputate my leg at them?!

Having castigated SCAMPS in the only way I feel truly safe doing so- out of his earshot and in my head- I turn my attention to my teammates. "Yeah, I'm gonna stay out of this one. I'm no use dead, after all. I'll watch over Aloha or whatever her name is, you guys just get in there and be heroic. Thanks for patching me up- and thanks for the advocacy, Ishmael. Good luck. I'll try and keep an open line for you guys.

Oh, and...don't die, okay? You guys seem to be some of the least insane people around here."

I fly with Ishmael until he sets Aloysius down and then land beside...my ship. I then pop open the canopy and take out my electrorifle, watching over the captive's ship and opening a comms line to it.

"Hey, Alamo, I'm pretty shot up so about all I'm good for is making sure you don't do anything rash, alright? So how about we just sit tight and chat a bit, and then I won't have to taze you for trying to run or turn me into Swiss cheese or something. So, uh...got any hobbies?"

"Cho, since i'm basically guaranteed to die if I go into combat, I'm going to sit tight here, guard the prisoner, and use my ship as a comms relay so the teams can stay in touch with you guys."

Last edited by cuisinart8 on Sun Jul 29, 2018 6:42 pm, edited 2 times in total.

((I wrote a couple PMs to people about the Caleb situation. I plan to write Cho's response to outlander after all that is resolved. I will say that Caleb flying his ship back to the Nemesis is not an option, as I believe I said before the mission began. SCAMPS isn't one to go back on his word or give false info. However, there may be a way around it that makes everyone happy. We'll see.))

Ugh, I owe a life-debt to this guy? Well, at least I had a nice nap… Don't know when I passed out, though.
(a little too loudly) "Hey Alpha—I'm back! What's the situation?"

"Huh? Who's that? Oh yeah, I remember now! The situation's great, more or less! First off, the bad parts - Brom might be dead, we're surrounded by squids and green things and Frank might be havin' a heart attack. The good parts - I'm the leader now, and when we send all these squids and green fukcers to hell, we'll have a hell of a story to tell when we get back to the big ship! Also, I've heard some reinforcements might be comin', ain't sure 'bout that though, I'll have to check on that. Not like we really need 'em anyway, but I need somethin' to make sure the rest of the team don't shit themselves - for some reason they think that just 'cause we're outnumbered, we're in trouble!"

Somewhat nervous laughter

"You're in the east wing, right? Start headin' further inside, there's some squids in the corner of the building - they ain't expectin' you, so sneak up on 'em and give 'em hell! We just need a little bit more time until... somethin' happens that we need to happen, and then we can be on our merry way! You up for that?"

*I try to determine whether the huge drakedog is slower and less agile (lower speed/maneuverability) than it's smaller counterparts*

*I try to determine whether the huge drakedog is slower and less agile (lower speed/maneuverability) than it's smaller counterparts*

Your intuition tells you that this colossal monstrosity is probably less agile than the smaller drakedogs. It barely has room to climb around in here. On open terrain it would probably be quite fast. It's also looking at you, if you're interpreting its gaze correctly, which does not bode well.

Also, I've heard some reinforcements might be comin', ain't sure 'bout that though, I'll have to check on that. Not like we really need 'em anyway

"Oh, you don't?" a loud voice asks, breaking off in the middle of singing Itsy Bitsy Spider. "Yaha, well, that's good news! I mean that whole place looks pretty cramped!" Crank laughs. "Good on you guys for taking care of stuff!"

A way out alive for Frank...
Alone he wouldn't stand a chance, as much as he wanted to have nothing to do with the remaining lunatics...right now it would need them all.
Or at least the ones who were still left standing...not frozen to the spot, down or de-

No, those thoughts wouldn't help at all.
He could stay here, frozen, and die.
He cou-
Die, death, ripped apart, shot, crushed, mau-

His thoughts circled aimlessly. His hands clutched the looted sword.
Breathing accelerating, hitching. Panic rising ever more in a spiral of damning thoughts.
He would just sit here, and die, die, di-

*I try to determine whether the huge drakedog is slower and less agile (lower speed/maneuverability) than it's smaller counterparts*

Your intuition tells you that this colossal monstrosity is probably less agile than the smaller drakedogs. It barely has room to climb around in here. On open terrain it would probably be quite fast. It's also looking at you, if you're interpreting its gaze correctly, which does not bode well.

Also, I've heard some reinforcements might be comin', ain't sure 'bout that though, I'll have to check on that. Not like we really need 'em anyway

"Oh, you don't?" a loud voice asks, breaking off in the middle of singing Itsy Bitsy Spider. "Yaha, well, that's good news! I mean that whole place looks pretty cramped!" Crank laughs. "Good on you guys for taking care of stuff!"

Look at the big drakedog in the eyes

"Awww... shit... This ain't gonna be pretty!"

To the voice on the comms: "Hey, that ain't what I meant! Um, I meant we have the situation mostly under control, we just need some small, but very important things for y'all out there to do. As I said, we need someone to shoot at the squids down the hall until we..." glances back at the mega-drakedog, struggling to enter the room "take care of somethin' else!"

((Some questions from me (again). If Brom doesn't receive immediate medical attention, he won't bleed out, correct? Second... let's say I tried to grapple this big thing from behind (probably a very bad idea), what would the roll for that even be? Opposed unconventional (since unconv. is also used for melee combat)? Opposed maneuverability? Something else?))

((Some questions from me (again). If Brom doesn't receive immediate medical attention, he won't bleed out, correct? Second... let's say I tried to grapple this big thing from behind (probably a very bad idea), what would the roll for that even be? Opposed unconventional (since unconv. is also used for melee combat)? Opposed maneuverability? Something else?))

((He took a coagulant booster a short while ago. He'll be okay. As for the grappling... Well, do you think it's a thing Buck would naturally do?))

((Some questions from me (again). If Brom doesn't receive immediate medical attention, he won't bleed out, correct? Second... let's say I tried to grapple this big thing from behind (probably a very bad idea), what would the roll for that even be? Opposed unconventional (since unconv. is also used for melee combat)? Opposed maneuverability? Something else?))

((He took a coagulant booster a short while ago. He'll be okay. As for the grappling... Well, do you think it's a thing Buck would naturally do?))

((If the thing was barreling straight towards him at full force, no way - I don't think my character's stupid/insane/brave enough to try pulling off something like that. If, however, the circumstances seemed favorable enough - namely, if I managed to severely injure and/or stun this thing with my gravgun, my character might impulsively try and keep hitting it while it's down, especially if it's close to him anyway. Even then, though, I'm not sure - it would still be extremely dangerous, obviously, and my character has also already showed an aversion/slight fear of these green things. Keep in mind that when I say 'grapple from behind', I mean in a position where I presume that the thing would be unable to hit me without first shaking me off. Still... even if this action used some skill that I'm good at, I would need major amounts of luck not to get insta-killed as soon as I get close to the drakedog. So tl;dr, he'd only even consider it in very favorable circumstances, otherwise no.))

((Your roleplaying of Buck is in line with his skills/stats then, which is good Thought as much, but thought I'd ask to make sure. +1 on that. Buck isn't very well set up to throw himself at something. He's not particularly strong, fast, or agile. It'd be a long shot and even then, unless he had something to stab it with, I think he'd be little more than a distraction. If that's his goal, though, he could make it work. A drakedog would very much be distracted by something hanging off its back. So then it comes down to whether Buck has an escape plan for when things inevitably go south - or, preferably, an ally that can step in and save his hide.))

"Huh? Who's that? Oh yeah, I remember now! The situation's great, more or less! First off, the bad parts - Brom might be dead, we're surrounded by squids and green things and Frank might be havin' a heart attack. The good parts - I'm the leader now, and when we send all these squids and green fukcers to hell, we'll have a hell of a story to tell when we get back to the big ship! Also, I've heard some reinforcements might be comin', ain't sure 'bout that though, I'll have to check on that. Not like we really need 'em anyway, but I need somethin' to make sure the rest of the team don't shit themselves - for some reason they think that just 'cause we're outnumbered, we're in trouble!"

"You're in the east wing, right? Start headin' further inside, there's some squids in the corner of the building - they ain't expectin' you, so sneak up on 'em and give 'em hell! We just need a little bit more time until... somethin' happens that we need to happen, and then we can be on our merry way! You up for that?"

((Your roleplaying of Buck is in line with his skills/stats then, which is good Thought as much, but thought I'd ask to make sure. +1 on that. Buck isn't very well set up to throw himself at something. He's not particularly strong, fast, or agile. It'd be a long shot and even then, unless he had something to stab it with, I think he'd be little more than a distraction. If that's his goal, though, he could make it work. A drakedog would very much be distracted by something hanging off its back. So then it comes down to whether Buck has an escape plan for when things inevitably go south - or, preferably, an ally that can step in and save his hide.))

((I've been thinking of hitting it with the baton while I'm on it, though I'm not sure if it would even be possible for me to do so without losing my grip on the thing - probably not when I think about it. I don't think my character would try to grapple the thing just for the sake of grappling, there would also have to be satisfying psychological aspect of trying to beat the living shit out of the thing while I'm on it, even if the attacks themselves don't really deal that much damage. I'll think over it.))

To the voice on the comms: "Hey, that ain't what I meant! Um, I meant we have the situation mostly under control, we just need some small, but very important things for y'all out there to do. As I said, we need someone to shoot at the squids down the hall until we..." glances back at the mega-drakedog, struggling to enter the room "take care of somethin' else!"

"Gearhead and I are almost at the plant, I'm gonna sneak in through the door you guys went in. If you see odd shield bubbles appearing round the squids, or sudden lightning, that's probably me."

I land my ship near the plant (preferable somewhere somewhat covered), keeping my thrusters thrusting downwards slightly too keep it from floating away. I also turn off the gravity portion of my gravbelt - no point in that here.
Then I attach my tether, get out of my casket, and make my way to the door of the plant. Once there, I deattach it and try to attach it to something near the door.
Then I take Spoon to use it to cover my while I move.
I sneak inside, and, going through shadows and cover, go forward until in a position where I am hidden but have a decent view at the squids.
Once there, I use my PDA to get a quick IR view of the room to see where the squids are exactly.
Then, I attack, trying to stay hidden (preferably attacking enemies that are attacking/about to attack allies):
-I stasis enemies, until 2 are stasis'd or I did 4 attacks
-I make lightning leap from an electrical circuit near an enemy to that enemy (using however many of my 4 attacks I have left)
If seen, I try to hide again in shadows and cover, otherwise I stay put.
In the meantime, if appropriate, I do a bit of self reflectionWhy am I kinda enjoying this? I'm not a soldier or criminal, I should be freaking out like Frank...but I'm fairly fine...
And just now I kinda took the lead even... I never would have done that back home....
Well, I kinda like it.

Last edited by Dinosawer on Sat Aug 04, 2018 6:16 am, edited 3 times in total.